The Oneonta City Council moved multiple routine items to its consent agenda, including designating the Veil Star as the city's official newspaper and a set of annual appointments.

The consent package included the annual designation of the official newspaper (the Veil Star); authorization related to borrowing bonds for capital projects; annual banking depository designations (including New York Class and MBT Bank); appointments of several municipal officers; and two donations — a $7,500 contribution for a soccer tournament (an increase of $2,500 from the prior year) and an anonymous $60,000 donation to purchase an ambulance for the fire department. Several staffing items were also placed on consent, including filling a vacant public works operator trainee position.

Why this matters: moving items to the consent agenda bundles routine administrative actions into a single vote so council time can be reserved for discussion items. The items placed on consent in this meeting cover daily municipal operations (banking and appointments), capital project financing authority and one-time donations that affect public safety and recreation.

Details
- Official newspaper: Council members indicated the city has one eligible daily newspaper in the jurisdiction and that the Veil Star has been the traditional designation.
- Bonds/borrowing: The authorization discussed was described as authority to borrow for capital projects already identified by the city. Council members noted the tradition is for the finance director to handle bond transactions.
- Banking depositories: The council discussed continuing to place restricted cash and some unrestricted funds in New York Class, a municipal investment vehicle, and diversifying among local banks including MBT Bank.
- Appointments: The package included routine annual appointments: Judy Sweet (bingo inspector), Mark Simonson (city historian), Eliza Lauritsen (deputy purchasing agent), Diane Gregerson (city health officer) and Dave Mercik (city attorney). Council members recommended moving those appointments to consent.
- Donations: The council considered an annual $7,500 donation for a soccer tournament (an increase of $2,500) and an anonymous $60,000 gift to buy an ambulance for the fire department; both were put on consent.
- Staffing: A vacant public works operator trainee position (vacant about a month) was included in the consent paperwork for filling.

What the council did next: Council members agreed to move the listed items to the consent agenda for formal approval at the meeting's consent vote.

Ending
The council did not conduct extended debate on the consent items during this portion of the meeting; several members described these as routine or consistent with past practice and recommended bundling them for a single consent vote later in the agenda.